4 comments:

whenever i can i try and sift through 30's cartoons, and it really interests me the shift where things would happen randomly/absurdly to where they had to be justified as a story element or make logical sense.

magnet eyes are brilliant! no one would do that anymore!!!

i was watching an old van buren [?] cartoon called "candy town," that starts with the character deating what the moon's made of...then BAM: STAIRWAY TO THE MOON!!! no rocket no plan to get to the moon, it's just "what's the moon made of? oh sweet! stairway, let's scope it out!"

i love that and there's definitely a period where that seemed to stop. things were weird if they were part of a dream maybe, or drunkenness, but then just were more normally.

popeyes are a good example, in the first few there's weird fleischery things coming to life but after a point it gets more tied to reality.

what're your thoughts on this shift away from things like magnet eyes?

I think the general consensus is that the influence of the more commercially successful Disney cartoons (and that studio's strive towards realism) was what helped put a stop to the metamorphosis gags and the more fantastic scenarios of the early 30's cartoons of other studios. It had to happen but, in hindsight, it seems like something was lost don't you think?

"During the span of years from 1914, I have made efforts to retain the "cartoony" effect. That is, I did not welcome the trend of the industry to go "arty". It was, and still is, my opinion that a cartoon should represent, in simple form, the cartoonist's mental expression. In other words the "animated oil painting" has taken the place of the flashiness and delightfulness of the simple cartoon.

In my opinion, the industry must pull back. Pull away from the tendencies toward realism. It must stay in it's own backyard of "The Cartoonist's Cartoon." The cartoon must be a portrayal of the expression of the true cartoonist, in simple, unhampered cartoon style. The true cartoon is a great art in it's own right. It does not need the assistance or support of "Artiness." In fact, it is actually hampered by it." - Max Fleischer